“You’ll appreciate it when you’re older,” is everyone’s response when I seem frustrated about being mistaken for a fifth grader at 18 years old. 

   I’m five feet tall, with a round face and chubby cheeks. It’s not crazy that people assume I’m younger than I am. But what troubles me is that every time I tell a stranger my age, they have to comment about it. I can’t go to the airport, park my car in a parking garage, or dine at a restaurant without being confused for a middle schooler. I understand that, in some circumstances, looking younger can be an advantage. But, as a teenager, it is very much a roadblock. When I’m out in public, I feel like I’m always talked down to— – waiters and waitresses talking in higher-pitched voices, and TSA workers lightly tapping me on the shoulder to telling me that I don’t have to take my shoes. Even around my friends, I notice a difference in how I’m treated. It’s gotten to the point where I’m not taken seriously. I feel like I have to carry my keys out in the open to avoid being asked if an adult is accompanying me when I walk to my car or that I need to dress differently to look older. But the reality of it is, there is absolutely nothing I can do to change others’ perceptions of me.

   I can’t change my face and I can’t change my height. So, there is nothing that I can do to stop me from feeling this way besides altering my style and personality— – which I am not going to do. I believe that just as much as you shouldn’t talk about an older person’s age  just as much as , you shouldn’t talk about a younger one’s. If commenting about someone’s age is rude, why do it at all?. As someone who is inevitably mistaken as younger than how I look, I am worried that I will be disrespected because of it. I’m scared that when I apply for a job I won’t be taken as a responsible young woman because of how I look, or that when I go to college I’ll be mistaken as a student’s younger sibling. 

   When someone tells me they think I am eleven or twelve, they never fail to say that they envy me and wish they could look younger. But I am not at the point in my life where it is obvious that I am an adult. When you are older, it doesn’t matter if you look younger than you are because it will still be obvious you are not in grade school. But I’m not there yet. I’ve always been eager to grow up and take the next steps in my life, but I feel held back by the label given to me based on my appearance. I would urge those people to think about how much they wanted to grow up when they were younger. I want people to understand their comments from a teenager’s perspective.

   To me, looking younger is not a compliment. It is degrading. It’s hurtful. Nobody has the right to comment on my age or appearance, because I cannot change it. Not everyone’s the same, and what is a positive thing to some, can be negative to others. 

   I’m 18 now, I’m going to college soon, I’m applying for jobs and I am going to be fully responsible for myself. I’ve gone through way too much self-growth for that not to be recognized. I hope I can be respected the same as my peers regardless of the age I look. Assumptions as simple as these are very impactful and do hurt. All people should be respected equally because, at the end of the day, that should be given to anyone regardless of their age.